Is anyone shopping for Christmas, yet? I guess they are, but I’m at a loss for what to get. Earlier in 2020 … before the pandemic became so permanent … I had some ideas for Christmas gifts. There were some really cute baby dolls on the internet. There were some technology items the older grandkids might like, and I’m pretty sure another Nerf-gun would be acceptable to the grandson.
I did order the doll. It was so cute: lots of curly red hair, several hats, little shoes and dresses that could be interchanged. I knew the hats and shoes would not see the dark of night on Christmas day, but I didn’t care. Gracie is going to be two-years-old in January, and dressing and re-dressing a doll is probably a little too much to ask. But … the doll was so cute … and it was hand made. It cost only thirty dollars, and I ordered it well ahead of time.
Months later, when I had heard nothing, I went online to check on the doll. Of course, I couldn’t remember the name of the company, their website, or even how I’d paid for it. Turns out, it was on my bank statement … in Chinese. There was no phone number, but I did at least have proof that I had bought it. Since I had plenty of time, and there was nothing I could do about it, I forgot it.
The doll came in a week ago, in a plastic bag … from China. She must have ridden in the middle of the boat. She was a little out of shape. There was no little wooden box for storing her through the years. There were no shoes. There were no removable clothes. The shoes were painted on, the hat was a ruffle sewn to the head, and the hair was a piece of upholstery fringe which didn’t make it under the hat or to the back of the head. She did have big sad eyes, a thin smiling mouth, and two dots for a nose.
I know this doll will not make me the favorite grandmother. For one thing, we may have to have her fumigated before Gracie can play with her. I’m a little afraid to put her in the washing machine … that fringe could get hung up in the pump.
I’ve thought about trying to make a few clothes for the little doll. I can remember making Barbie clothes into the night. Santa outdid himself that year. Barbie had circle skirts, a coat with fur trim, an evening dress made from some white lace curtains, and some store-bought hats and shoes. I’m not sure how many hours I worked on those outfits, but I do know it took a lot less time to lose the hats, swallow one of the shoes, and tear off every little hook and eye I had sewn on. Barbie ended up in her bathing suit with Albert Einstein hair. She loved her anyway.
As to the technology equipment and the Nerf gun, I think I’ve already received them. I think I got my sister something, and I bought some other things. Now, if I can remember where I put them, I should have something under the tree by Christmas. That is if I manage to get the tree out of the basement
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